Officials: 3 Americans killed in plane crashWASHINGTON, D.C. — Three Americans were presumed dead in the plane crash in the southern French Alps, including a U.S. government contractor and her daughter, the State Department said Wednesday. Identified victims were Yvonne Selke of Nokesville, Virginia, an employee for 23 years at Booz Allen Hamilton Inc. in Washington, and her daughter, Emily Selke, a recent graduate of Drexel University in Philadelphia. The U.S. government did not identi...

Military: Bergdahl may face life in prison if convicted FORT BRAGG, N.C. (AP) — The Army sergeant who abandoned his post in Afghanistan and was held captive by the Taliban could face up to life in prison if convicted of both the charges he's facing, military officials said Wednesday. Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl was charged with misbehavior before the enemy, which carries a maximum sentence of up to life in prison. He was also charged with desertion, which carries a maximum of five years. Bergdahl could also...

Arkansas House advances Sen. Cotton presidential billLITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Arkansas' freshman senator could seek re-election and the White House in 2020 under a proposal endorsed by the House. Lawmakers voted 62-14 Monday in favor of allowing U.S. Senate and congressional candidates to also appear on the ballot as presidential or vice presidential candidates. The bill's sponsor has said U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton helped inspire the proposal. Cotton was sworn into his first Senate term in January an...

Hot plate may have sparked fire that killed 7 NYC childrenNEW YORK (AP) — A fire apparently caused by a malfunctioning hotplate left on for the Sabbath tore through a Brooklyn home early Saturday, leaving seven children from the same Orthodox Jewish family dead and their mother and another child in critical condition, authorities said. New York Police Department officials say the children ranging in age from 5 to 16 years old were all members of the Sassoon family. Three of the children were girls: 1...

Police: Man swinging a machete shot at New Orleans airportKEENER, La. (AP) — The New Orleans airport concourse that became a scene of chaos when a machete-wielding man was shot by a sheriff's lieutenant re-opened Saturday morning and a spokeswoman said airport operations were normal. Meanwhile, the suspect in the bizarre Friday night attack at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport remained in serious condition at a hospital. Richard White, 62, of Kenner is alleged to have approached a sec...

Selma civil rights milestone marked by first black presidentSELMA, Ala. (AP) — America's racial history "still casts its long shadow upon us," President Barack Obama said Saturday as he stood in solidarity and remembrance with civil rights activists whose beatings by police a half-century ago galvanized much of the nation against racial oppression and hastened passage of historic voting rights for minorities. Tens of thousands of people joined to commemorate the "Bloody Sunday" march of 1965 and take s...

Data: Victim's cell pinged along Hernandez's alleged routeFALL RIVER, Mass. (AP) — Tracking data shown to the jury Thursday in the murder trial of former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez indicates the victim's cellphone pinged along the same route that prosecutors say Hernandez took that night. The data roughly tracks the route prosecutors say Hernandez took from Odin Lloyd's home to the industrial park in North Attleborough where Lloyd was found shot to death June 17, 2013. A T-Mobile ...

Congress OKs 1-week bill to keep Homeland Security openWASHINGTON (AP) — Bordering on dysfunction, Congress passed a one-week bill late Friday night to avert a partial shutdown of the Homeland Security Department, as leaders in both political parties quelled a revolt by House conservatives furious that the measure left President Barack Obama's immigration policy intact. The final vote of a long day and night was a bipartisan 357-60 in the House, a little more than an hour after the Senate cleared ...

Leonard Nimoy, famous as Mr. Spock on 'Star Trek,' diesLOS ANGELES (AP) — In 1975, Leonard Nimoy published an autobiography with the defiant title, "I Am Not Spock." Two decades later, he bowed to fate with "I Am Spock," a revisionist sequel. But for Trekkies and even casual "Star Trek" viewers, Nimoy was always the coolly composed science officer with the pointed ears and an unwavering belief in logic. He played a variety of other stage and screen roles, wrote poetry and pursued photography, but ...

Tiny Missouri town mourns after gunman kills 7, then himselfKANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Residents of a small southern Missouri town struggled to come to grips with the knowledge that one of their own had killed seven people in a spasm of violence that ended when the gunman shot himself to death on a rural county road. Joseph Jesse Aldridge, 36, went to four homes in the unincorporated town of Tyrone in Texas County late Thursday, killing relatives and neighbors but sparing two teenagers. He was later found...

Truck stalls on track before fiery train crash, 28 injuredOXNARD, Calif. (AP) — A commuter train slammed into a truck stuck on the tracks early Tuesday, sending three rail cars tumbling onto their sides and injuring 28 people in the fiery crash in California. The accident occurred around 5:45 a.m. about 65 miles northwest of Los Angeles. Four people, including the train engineer, had critical injuries. The truck driver was found disoriented 1 or 2 miles away, said Jason Benitez, an assistant chief of...

Feds say Wal-Mart was biased against lesbiansBOSTON (AP) — A federal agency says Wal-Mart discriminated against a lesbian employee who sought health coverage for her ailing wife and has ordered "a just resolution" for violating her civil rights. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ordered the retail giant to work with Jacqueline Cote of New Bedford, Massachusetts, who hopes the determination will help her pay off $100,000 in medical bills. In a Jan. 29 EEOC ruling, obtained ...

Wal-Mart driver appeals in bid to delay Morgan crash suitNEWARK, N.J. (AP) — A Wal-Mart driver involved in a highway crash that killed a comic and severely injured actor-comedian Tracy Morgan has asked a judge to reconsider her decision not to delay Morgan's lawsuit against the company. Truck driver Kevin Roper isn't a defendant in Morgan's lawsuit against Bentonville-based Wal-Mart Stores Inc., but he wants to intervene to delay it from moving forward until his criminal case is resolved. He filed h...

Storm could bring snow, ice, sleet to Oklahoma, ArkansasOKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — A winter storm moving into Oklahoma and headed east is forecast to bring a mix of snow, sleet and ice to parts of Oklahoma and much of Arkansas starting Sunday, making travel hazardous and possibly disrupting power supply. A cold front bringing subfreezing temperatures to the region moved into northern Oklahoma early Saturday afternoon, according to National Weather Service meteorologist Joe Sellers in Tulsa. With highs in...

Superstition times 3: 2015 calendar has 3 Friday the 13thsLACEY TOWNSHIP, N.J. (AP) — Get ready for superstition — times three. Friday is the first of three Friday the 13ths this year. Each year has at least one Friday the 13th, but there can be as many as three. 2012 was the last year with three Friday the 13ths; the next will be 2026. Here's a look at the mysterious date through the eyes of a numerals-obsessed educator who calls himself Professor 13; a British journalist moving her family to a new ...

3 top Grammys now staying with Sam SmithSomewhere in England sits a man who was the unwitting inspiration for the biggest winner at the Grammy Awards. He's the man who loved, and dumped, 22-year-old British soul singer Sam Smith. Smith's yearning hit, "Stay With Me," won Grammys for song and record of the year and he was named best new artist three of the four biggest awards the Grammys present each year. His album "In the Lonely Hour" won best pop vocal album, but lost to Beck for ...

Police: 5 dead, including gunman, in Georgia shootingDOUGLASVILLE, Ga. (AP) — Five people are dead, including the gunman, after a shooting in a subdivision west of Atlanta that also left two children injured, police said. Authorities arrived at the Douglasville subdivision of two-story homes, about 20 miles west of Atlanta, after receiving a 911 call around 3 p.m., Douglas County Sheriff's Lt. Glenn Daniel said. Daniel said a man came to a house and shot his ex-wife and several children. Police ...

Commuter train strikes vehicle on tracks, killing 6VALHALLA, N.Y. (AP) — A commuter train slammed into a sport utility vehicle stuck on the tracks Tuesday evening, killing 6 people, mostly on the train, and injuring at least 12 others, authorities said. The northbound train struck a Jeep Cherokee at a railroad crossing in Valhalla, about 20 miles north of New York City, Metro-North Railroad spokesman Aaron Donovan said. Killed were the SUV's driver and five people aboard the train, he said. Th...

Storm threatens Northeast with historic snow NEW YORK (AP) — Cities big and small along the Philadelphia-to-Boston corridor of more than 35 million people began shutting down and bundling up Monday against a powerful and potentially historic storm that could unload 1 to 3 feet of snow. More than 5,000 flights were canceled, schools and businesses planned to close early, and cities mobilized snowplows and salt spreaders, getting ready for a dangerously windy blast that could instantly mak...

Westerman appointed to House Natural Resources SubcommitteesWASHINGTON — Congressman Bruce Westerman (R-Hot Springs) issued the following statement on his appointment to the Public Lands and Environmental Regulations Subcommittee and the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee under the House Committee on Natural Resources: “I want to thank Chairman Bishop for the privilege to serve on these two important subcommittees. With my new district office located within Hot Springs National Park — America’s ...